Fast & Furious 6 Michelle Rodriguez - H 2013
Universal PicturesNot everyone is on board with diversity casting for traditionally white superhero roles.
Michelle Rodriguez, who will soon be seen in Furious 7, told TMZ that minority actors deserve their own characters, rather than playing white characters.
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“Because of this whole ‘minorities in Hollywood’ thing … it’s so stupid,” said the 36-year-old actress, whose mother is from the Dominican Republic and father is Puerto Rican. “Stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes. Make up your own.”
Rodriguez was also asked about a reported Internet rumor that she may appear in Warner Bros.’ new Green Lantern film, slated for a 2020 release, to which she replied: “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
On Saturday, Rodriguez posted a video to Facebook explaining her remarks, apologizing “if [they] came off rude or stupid” and saying her quote about “stealing” was taken out of context.
In the video, she added: “It’s not about taking Catwoman or Superman or Green Lantern … and trying to make them fit to whatever cultural background you are. I just feel like it should be more creative than that, and I think that people need to stop being lazy.”
Diversity in TV and film has been a hot-button issue lately, with #OscarsSoWhite trending after this year’s slate of Academy Award nominees was comprised only of white actors.
Several roles that were initially conceived in comic books as white characters have been recently played on film by black actors, including Samuel L. Jackson embodying Nick Fury in the Marvel films and Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot.
Rodriguez’s Facebook video can be seen below.
Email: Ryan.Gajewski@pgmedia.org
Twitter: @_RyanGajewski
